US expresses concern over China involvement in Manila Bay land reclamation project
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China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ripped up thousands of reefs to create new land for artificial islands
PHOTO: DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, PHILIPPINES
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MANILA – US diplomats have raised security and environmental concerns with the Philippines over the involvement of a Chinese company in a land reclamation project in Manila Bay, a US embassy spokesman said on Wednesday.
A subsidiary of China Communications Construction, which was blacklisted by Washington in 2020, has been contracted to reclaim 318ha in waters fronting the United States embassy and Philippine Navy headquarters, the Philippine Reclamation Authority told Agence France-Presse.
US embassy spokesman Kanishka Gangopadhyay said the American diplomatic mission has expressed several concerns with the Philippines, including the project’s “potential negative long-term and irreversible impacts to the environment”.
“We are also concerned that the projects have ties to the China Communications Construction Company, which has been added to the US Department of Commerce’s Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarise artificial islands in the South China Sea,” he said in a statement.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea
Environmental groups have long warned that land reclamation in Manila Bay will worsen flooding in the sprawling metropolis of 13 million people.
The 34.4 billion peso (S$834 million), four-year project is a joint venture between the Manila city government and Waterfront Manila Premier Development, said Mr Joseph Literal, assistant general manager at the reclamation authority.
The Chinese subsidiary was contracted by the joint venture to carry out the work, he said.
The government permit requires the contractor to provide a 200m access channel for the Philippine Navy, he added.
Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga on Wednesday said other parties have also raised “concerns” about the project, and the government “will be conducting a cumulative impact assessment of the reclamation projects” on the 1,700 sq km bay.
In 2020, the government of then President Rodrigo Duterte said it would not follow the US lead in blacklisting Chinese companies involved in island-building in disputed waters. AFP
